This Is Not a Drive By – One Shot
by Kittyinaz
Summary: Being called home was the last thing Damon wanted, but when he got there, what he had spent the last months looking for will show up on the side of the road.


This Is Not a Drive By – One Shot

**Disclosure: Twilight and Vampire Diaries are owned by their respective braianics that thought of it. **

**Pre Edit Count - 8,501 Words **

_Song I listened to for this chapter: Drive By_ by Train

* * *

The sun is shining on a blue Camaro as it slithered through the roads of Virginia heading to its home in Mystic Falls. The vampire, who is driving, is tapping his fingers against the steering wheel as he listens to his radio.

The vampire looks as though he is your typical bad boy, black hair, black leather coat, over a black t-shirt with dark jeans. He is heading home after a long sabbatical from home.

He turns his head, slightly bobbing to the music, and out of the corner of his eye he sees a person out of the corner of his eye. A brunette standing there on the side of the road, watching him. Then he turns his head immediately back to see if it is _her._

But there is nothing there. And Damon can't help but be in pain remembering _her_. The one that had, for one night, made his life seem to make sense. That had completed him. He remembers that one night, the precious, perfect night, always.

He had woken up the following morning, and not sure what to do with the picture of angelic perfection beside him, and with the memories that filled him, he had slipped out of the room that had been scented with the activities of the previous night. He had sworn that he had not been gone for more than five to ten minutes. But when he returned, she was gone.

He had spent the month following that tearing up first the hotel, then the city, then anywhere he could possibly find her.

But nothing. No trace of her.

He had finally put her out of his mind, or at least tried. But nothing did. He remembered every moment of that night, and he felt himself fall more in love with his angel, his angioletta.

So the remote idea that he had just seen her was enough for him to flip his car around on the road, and stop. He is outside the car in seconds, and he is scanning the area with his eyes, his nose raised as he tries to catch a whiff of her perfect scent.

But…nothing. He cannot help the loss he feels through his body. But he doesn't give up. Soon he is in the forest, and a scent wafts past him, a scent that could be her own. He stands still and tries to gather all the information, basically soaking in the scent.

However, that moment passes. And he is left again with the memory of her. He closes his eyes, and stills himself, trying not to let the feeling of loss pervade him as it has many mornings.

When he feels himself settle, he leaves and heads to his car much slower than he had moved here. He is hoping for a chance, a hint of his angioletta.

But nothing, and with a more solemn attitude than hours, even minutes ago, he gets into his car. He had lost sense of time while he had searched for her. This is not the first time, nor would it be the last. He will search the world for her.

Right now, he needed to head home. The calls have gotten frantic. It is something new, to have friends and family who cared for him. So he is heading home, to tell them what has happened, and then to leave once he has settled them.

He slightly smiles, knowing they will be shocked. He had left after they had Klaus settled. He had gotten tired of being second choice, never anyone's number one choice. So he had left and headed out for a road trip, telling the others that he will be back…eventually.

He had drifted, trying to figure out what to do with his life. Finding out that Elena chose Elijah over him, well that had been the last straw, but he could not deny the girl he thought he loved her happiness. His trip and finding his angioletta showed him that he had not loved her. He had loved the potential, the resemblance of her, the one he had given up his mortal life for, but not her, Elena the person. And Elena had deserved far better than that.

Stefan and getting him off human blood had been harder than anything in the past. He had stuck by his brother, and helped him every step of the way, even after Elena had chosen Elijah.

Caroline had forgiven him, and she had been the one who had told him that he needed to leave, to get himself together. Then she had shyly told him that she would take care of Stefan. He had been shocked at Barbie loving his brother, but he said nothing.

Klaus and Bonnie had been the shocker of Mystic Falls. Well, to be honest, no less than Rebecca and Jeremy. He had shook his head at one point and asked if it was something in the water and blood of the town. So many couples never even imagined are together.

And to admit it, Damon had been hurting. All the love in the air and none of it for him. He had felt sorry for himself, and he hated it. So he had left to spend some time losing himself in some mayhem and half naked girls.

He had gotten more tired of it than he thought he would. When that happened and he drove himself to the place he figured would help him get out of his funk.

Now, without knowing he had reached Mystic Falls, he has pulled into the Boarding House. He sighs, staring at it, still lost in his memories of that night. The one night that had changed his life.

* * *

Walking inside the house, he is greeted by Stefan appearing at his doorway to his room as he sets his bag down on his bed.

"Glad to see you home. We were worried."

Damon nods, his hands moving quickly as he unpacks. He will wash later. He will be doing many things he normally dismisses, but he needs to keep his mind busy.

"Everyone is coming over, if that is alright with you."

Stefan is looking over his brother, and he is…concerned. Damon is neither acting like normal, nor anything have they heard since he left has made them think he is doing well. There had been tales of him looking for something, or someone.

From what Stefan is seeing, there is something definitely on Damon's mind.

Damon ignores his brother, telling him, "I am heading to take a shower. I will come downstairs to be social when I am done."

Stefan watches him as he heads to his bathroom. He leaves, pulling out his phone and telling the person on the other side, "We have a problem." He listens and answers them, "No, he is home. But there is something wrong." He nods and tells them, "Thanks. I will be waiting."

With that he heads downstairs with a glance back at Damon's room.

* * *

Damon is in the shower, and slides his hand over his hair, pushing it out of his face. He had heard his brother's half of the conversation. But he dismisses it. He knew there is something wrong, and he had spent the time searching for his Angioletta thinking through everything. He had come to the conclusion that she is what he wants.

He regrets walking out of the room, no matter how brief. He had only walked to where he could have some time and space to think, just right outside the hotel. It had only taken a few minutes for him to decide that he wanted her, to take that chance, and to run back to their room to wake her, and his heart dropping out as he found her gone. Her clothes, her body, everything that had been hers had been gone.

But he had felt hope when he didn't find one item. And no where he searched, did he find it. It being so unique, he had others looking for it and it had not appeared anywhere at all. It gave him hope as eternal as the shape of it as long as he doesn't find it.

He sighs, then reaches out to turn off the water and grabs the towel hanging on the wall. He dried himself and then wrapping the towel around his waist, he heads back to his room to grab his clothes. He only pauses as he takes in the person standing there, but other than that momentary halt in his movements, nothing giving any indication he has noticed the person in his room.

Watching him, she finally asks, "Are you going to ignore me now?"

He stops, closing his eyes. Then sighs, "No Elena, I am not ignoring you. I am trying to get dressed. I have been led to believe there is an intervention being held for me downstairs."

"Intervention?"

He nods as he grabs some clothes to put on and heads back to his bathroom since it seems that she will not leave him alone for him to dress.

Elena lifts an eyebrow as she noticed that he didn't take the chance to drop his towel in front of her. "And why do you think we will be doing that?"

He snorts as he dresses, and is soon in front of her with his own lifted eyebrow. "You're telling me that you guys hunted me down, all called me, even Klaus and Witchy, to have me come back to say hi?"

She frowns at him. "What did you expect from us, Damon? We heard rumors that you have went nuts for the last couple of months."

He frowns, searching his memory, then his eyes narrow as he realizes he has been searching for her that long. "I have not been nuts."

Sighing, Elena went to hug him, but he is stiff in her arms. She backs up and looks at him sadly. "You allowed hugs when we were friends."

He looks down at her. "When I hoped for your love and reveled in each and every time you touched me. Now, it just feels wrong. Your love is given to another. I no longer want to seduce you." It makes his skin crawl in even touching another woman that is not _her_.

Elena just frowns up at him. Then she blurts out, "This isn't you! You never let the chance of flirting go by, even if it was with someone you knew wouldn't be yours. What is going on?"

From downstairs, Elijah is listening, and then suggests to the two upstairs, "Why don't you come down here and talk. Not all of us are vampires."

Damon just lifts an eyebrow, and he leaves her to go downstairs. Elena is just shocked, and soon follows him.

* * *

Downstairs, Damon is at the bar, getting himself a drink. He needs something to get through their well intentions. Then he can be gone and go back to the side of the road to see if he can find anymore hints. He is already upset he didn't think to check for foot prints.

Klaus is sitting there, Bonnie on his lap as he watches Damon. He is not fond of the vampire, but even he had worried when he received reports from around the country that Damon had been searching for someone. If Damon really wanted to find this person, well, Klaus will help, once they find out why.

Klaus had been the one that told the rest about the odd behaviors that had been reported to him. Damon not flirting, Damon being intense in a new way. Even he had been shocked with the reports that the man he had researched intently as one of the protectors of the current doppelganger is acting completely contrary to what is normal. But it did remind him of some of the reports, whenever he would be chasing rumors of Katherine.

Then had come the information from one of his sources that had blown him away.

That had finally gotten the rest to call Damon home to get to the bottom of everything. That news had made them all shocked, and when he proved it to them, they had finally agreed something was wrong. Until then, they all thought it was him blowing off steam, acknowledging that there was something to the need to do it.

Damon not drinking from humans at all is not his typical behavior. There had been rumors of his drinking animal blood, that is what made them call for him.

Damon ignores them all, staring out the window, then sighs. "Well, let's get this over with. I have things to do, people to see, places to be."

Stefan lifts an eyebrow, "People? Which people?"

Damon looks over to him, and he lifts an eyebrow. "Of all my words, why do you pick that one word out? What do you think brother, dear? Why are you all here?" He suspects the reasoning, but he wants them to say it. To see which of the outlandish rumors they believe.

The rest of them look at each other, then Elijah from where he is leaning against the bookshelf with Elena in his arms, looks at him, and then admits, "We have heard rumors. Then we found proof of this rumor being confirmed. Do you want to talk to us?"

Damon snorts as he tosses his drink back, then gets ready to pour another. "Not really."

Caroline tilts her head. "Not really as in you don't want to talk to us, or not really in what we found? Aren't you curious?"

Smirking, Damon pours himself his scotch, tells her, "Let me guess. Klaus here heard some rumors of me looking for someone. So who knows?" Here he shrugs, "He got curious. Or got more reports then got curious. Either way, he looked into it. Then he was curious, thinking this is not normal behavior. But then, what did you think happened to me? I was bewitched?"

He looks at them, as he shakes his head. "Either way, Witchy here can tell you I am not bewitched. With that eliminated, you guys can stop worrying about me. It isn't like you really care."

And with that statement, he caught something out of the corner of his eye, and he turns, and meets _her_ eyes for a second, then the glass is shattered on the floor as he is gone, out the door the next second.

Klaus has his mouth open in shock and he finally asks, "What the hell was that?"

Elena had happened to be staring out the window when Damon had looked and she is pale as she whispers, "Him confirming the rumors."

Bonnie just can't help it, she asks, "But why? And more importantly…Who?"

* * *

Damon is out chasing after the woman of his dreams, his Angioletta. He calls out, "Bella, wait!"

In front of him, in the forest, a small woman stops. Not turning her head, she finally asks him, "Why?"

He stops just inches away from her and takes a deep breath, taking in her scent, noting the differences, but more importantly, savoring the scent. But he quickly answers her, "Why what?"

Biting her lower lip, she asks, "Why did you leave?" Her head is slightly lowered, waiting on the answer.

He is still staring at her, shocked that after all the searching, all the times he had dreamed of this moment, it is here in front of him. But he doesn't want her to leave him, so he answers her quickly. "I was overwhelmed. I was frankly scared as hell. I didn't know what to do, because for the first time in my long life, I finally fell in love. Other times were just a hint. So, I had to step away. I needed that time to think. But when I came back, after quickly deciding I wanted this, I wanted you, you were gone." And for that moment, he feels the pain of that moment all over again.

She says nothing, and Damon tells her the rest. "I searched for you. Minutes, hours, days, weeks. Months. Spent doing nothing but looking for you. I followed all the clues I could find. I went to West LA on a rumor. New York on a whisper. I even went to Santa Fe on a hunch. Nothing. Then when I give in to all the calls to come home I see more hints of you than ever before. And now, you are here. In front of me." He moves closer to her, needing the distance to be gone.

Bella has a tear in her eye. But still, says nothing.

His heart tearing in his chest, Damon takes a chance and puts his left hand on her shoulder. "Bella, my Angioletta, please. Talk to me? Tell me what you want, and I will do it. I will give you whatever you need to never leave me again. But let me hear your lovely voice tell me this."

She can't help the sob. Then his hand slid down her arm, and he turns her to him, and he brings her close to him. She allows it, not able to fight the need to be with the man who had stolen her breath away in a night. She curls into his body, as if needing the warmth of his body as she gives in to the pain that had her chasing down this man.

He rests his head on hers, breathing a sigh of relief that she is allowing this, and tells her, "Shhh. There is no reason to cry. Tell me what is hurting you, so I can fix it. Just… please, Bella." He hurts that she is crying, and he cannot tell the reason, nor if it is in pain, sorrow, or maybe…just maybe relief and joy?

She is soon sobbing harder in his arms, and he holds her. Content if this is all she will allow.

Finally, she looks up at him, and he wipes her tears away. Staring into his eyes, she tells him, "I woke up in your arms, and couldn't believe that you would actually stay with me. Nobody ever seems to want that. So I wanted to stay still, to just stay in the moment. But it ended as I figured it would. You woke up. I stayed still, not wanting to end it. And you stayed there, just long enough for me to hope, then the next second, you were gone. You had only pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt, but…my heart had felt crushed in that second. So I grabbed my things and slipped out."

His arms tighten around her. "I swear I came back." His voice is hoarse, but the honesty is plain on his face.

She nods, "I saw. But I was scared. And I wasn't sure why you came back. So I ran." She lowers her head at the last part, ashamed of how she reacted.

He closes his eyes. "I searched for you. I wanted you. I still want you." He is laying it out for her, something he normally wouldn't do, but he truly wants and needs her.

She looks up at him, and her left hand travels down his arm to his hand, and she touches the ring that matches her own. "I saw you once. I followed. And I saw this. It gave me hope. I decided that I needed to be what you needed, so I went away for awhile, but I came here to find you. I was a little shocked when I saw you driving here, and panicked. But I finally came to the place you listed as home." She is biting her lower lip, nervous. She is putting herself out there, but…

His hand grips hers. "I'm glad I put the address down then." Then he leans back to look her in the eyes and tells her, "I want this. I want everything that we promised to each other that night. I want to live up to those promises, and show you what love is. Will you allow me that?" His eyebrow lifts in his typical move.

She looks at him, and her eyes tear up, "I want that. But, Damon, that night, I fell. I don't know what happened, but I woke up in the morgue. I…attacked some woman for her blood. I am not what I was." Her voice shakes, scared. She is not a vampire like she knows of, so she is unsure if something messed up with her as it normally does.

He pulls her closer as he holds her he apologizes over and over again. "I should have been there for you. I am so sorry, my angioletta. I thought I dreamed of giving you my blood, but while it may sound selfish, I am so glad I did so. But I should have been there, guiding you, teaching you." He regrets his leaving her even more, and he thought there was no way he could do that, but hearing and knowing what she had to go through, never knowing anything about it.

He remembers a slight memory of a crowd of people around the stairwell, but had thought it had been a suicide. He had been wrapped up in looking for Bella, that he had not given it a second thought. But he wondered why no one had called him. Or if it was the normal, oops we made a mistake and hide it under a rug, thing that happens.

She looks up at him, "You know what happened to me?"

He nods. Cupping her face he explains, his ice blue eyes intent on hers, "I am a vampire. I am so glad you never took off the ring I gave you, because you would have burned in the sun. The ring I gave you is the mate to my own. I have carried it for a long time. The way you turn into a vampire, is when you die with a vampire's blood in you. Then when you wake, you have 24 hours to finish the change, by ingesting human blood." And he is never happier that she did complete the change. He would have had a hard time killing her to make her like him, but that is not needed at this time. If she accepts him, this will be forever.

She looks at him, "I have eaten normal food, and it was just a shock to find that I need human blood. I finally went to a hospital and stole some blood bags, and I was thrilled when that worked." She gave a wry grin, remembering how nervous she had been until it had worked, and then spent a little bit wondering why the vampires she knew didn't do the same.

He caresses her jaw and tells her again, "I am so sorry, anima mia." The pain of knowing the woman he loves had gone through all that on her own, knowing he is her sire, is a truly new torment.

Bella snorts at him. "Why? From what I am gathering, I am the one who ran away. You looked for me, and I hid."

He smiles, one side of his lips lifting up further than the other side. "My Bella. There she is, the woman I had met at the bar that night. The woman I then spent so much time with before we decided that getting married was a great idea."

She just laughs, "You suggested it, told me that you have never found a more perfect person to enter into that institution with than me. Why wait, when you already knew perfection, had a ring and was in the city that could do it right away. What female could resist that?"

He gives her a wry grin of his own, "And it was all true. But I have been alive for over 150 years, and never gave thought of being married. Is it any wonder why, when I woke up and realized what I had done, I needed a moment to think? I was set to be the eternal stud, the party boy." He then cups her face in his hands as his blue eyes grow intense as he tells her, "None of it mattered, I knew after I met you, that you were it. There was no mystical connection, but there was a very real physical one that we only touched on sating that night, and a feeling of finding the person who I could be content with. I want you, need you. My searching for you was a compulsion."

She laughs. "At least we know there is nothing magical, since you would have found me long ago. But you know what? I had someone swear that I was theirs, and they left me in a forest, lying on the floor. I rather have this with you, than whatever that was. This feels right."

Damon smiles down to her, "So we are going to do this? Until the final death do we part? Because, I truly want to do this with you." And he holds his breath waiting on the answer that will define what is to happen. One way or the other, he will have this woman by his side. But if she wants to be wooed, he will do that. Whatever she wishes, he will grant except leaving her alone. He doesn't think his heart will stand that.

When she nods giving him his heart's desire, in seconds his mouth is slanted over hers, giving into his need for his wife. The woman he had given his heart to, and is thrilled that she is now here, agreeing to be his wife.

She opens her mouth to his, needing more, and he groans upon tasting her. His mouth is quick to dominate hers, and his tongue is soon mapping out the last mouth he will ever be kissing. His hands are wrapped around her shoulders, holding her to him. One slowly slides up, cupping the back of her neck, as both revel in the fact that neither need to breathe.

Damon finally lets her mouth free, as he kisses her jaw, loving the noises that she is making as he finally gives into his need for her. This is what he wants, this passion he had found quickly that night. One that matches his own.

Her head leans back allowing him access to her neck, her hand holding his head to her. And then she giggles as he places some very wet kisses on it, looking up at him when he tickles her too much.

Damon is staring down at her with a smile, and tells her, "Mine. And I am yours. I will mess up, I will make you mad. I will do a lot, and while some of it I will be sorry for doing, a lot of it will be me being sorry for hurting you. I am a bad man, but I am yours."

Her smile gets bigger and she leans forward, "Damn right you are. And you better make it up to me. Cause living with me mad at you will not be fun, but I promise not to run to far away if I get too angry, and I will always come back to you."

He lifts an eyebrow to her, "Within a week, let's just say? I won't deny I will probably make you leave just to get away from my fuckery, but I don't think I can stand to be that far from you again. I will come begging at your feet for my mistakes and you to forgive me, but never run away to the point I cannot find you, my angioletta. It will drive me insane." He watches her eyes, so that she can tell he is being honest.

Bella just shakes her head at him. "How messed up are we, that we are promising each other this, when we just met again?"

He smirks, "Realistic. I will be the romantic and loving man for you, but I know myself. I spent a long time thinking only of myself, and I am not sure that I can make the change overnight. I will try, but I will need your patience. I also don't expect you to be a saint and put up with my shit. You have every right to be angry with me, if I fuck shit up. But as long as we can talk, we can make this work." He truly believes that, knowing on his end he will do almost anything to keep this woman. The only things he will not do is give up on them.

She is still smiling, but she sighs. "Ok."

He kisses her again, supporting her when her knees weaken, and he grins down at her. Wanting nothing but to take her to his home, and proceed to worship her from head to toe. Again.

Then his smile fades as he remembers what is waiting for them at his home. "Dammit."

Bella looks up at him, her brown eyes searching his, trying to find out what is wrong.

He sighs, then bringing her into a hug; he uses her scent to calm himself. "Seems that my searching for you threw some switches and people took it upon themselves to have an intervention."

She frowns, "All the people back there in that house?"

He nods. "My searching for you is not normal, so they called me back thinking there is something wrong. I came back since I searched everywhere I could for you, and thought a day at home, get them to stop calling me, and get some fresh clothes before I went back out looking for you would be best. I never dreamed that it would give you back to me."

She chuckles, and asks, "So what do you want to do?"

He sighs, "Go back. Get them out of our house, and then we can renew our vows and reenact that night." That is what he wants right this second. He wants to show her his love for her, many times and as often as possible. Physically, emotionally, everything. She owns him right now.

Laughing, Bella asks him, "Is that all you think of?"

He looks down at her, as they stand there together, "It was one of the best nights I ever had. So yes, it repeats often. In fact, I want to add to the memory, and as many times as possible. Is this going to be a problem?" He teases her.

She shakes her head, and with a last hug, he sets himself, turning back to the house, offering her his arm.

Looking up at him, as they walk back, "If you really don't want to do this, why are you?"

He thinks as they walk, and finally tells her, "Because they do care. I am not such a dick that I don't feel anything. But this town has a lot of unpleasant memories for me." To say the least.

She nods, "I searched what I could of you, and knowing what I do now, you were either born here, or came here right afterwards. I read a lot, finding a lot of similarities to what I had thought was an ancestor of yours."

He nods, then decides to let her know some of his past. Who better than his wife? "I was born in Italy, but Stefan was born here. We moved after the plantation needed us here. My father's older brother was set to inherit the lands in Italy, and the lands here had been given as a thank you to the family. My father wanted to be in control of _his_ family and life, and hated how much his brother liked me. So he left, bringing us all here. The journey weakened our mother, and when Stefan was born, she ended up losing her life." He hated that, he truly loved his mother, she had been the one that supported him. But she had asked him to love his brother, and so he had.

By the time he finished, they were within sight of the boarding house. She asks, "So where is the house? This cannot have been it."

He grins down at her, "It is a shell, one I think I will rebuild with you. Stefan enjoys the boarding house, so it will work out better." As he says the idea, he is embracing it. He longs for a home, and this will settle it. The other house is a shrine to a memory only he has of a man who loved him as a father should have.

She just raises an eyebrow, "Just rebuild it like that?"

Looking up and narrowing his eyes at the people still in the house, "Yep. You didn't think I spent all my time partying, did you?"

She couldn't answer, since they arrived at the house, but she gives him a look telling him this was far from over. He grins, and kisses her forehead as he guides her through the door he opened for her. "Later, I promise."

And with that they are soon under the firing squad.

* * *

After a couple of hours of being questioned by the group, Bella understood Damon's reluctance in dealing with them. But even she could see the shock as he introduces her as Isabella Salvatore. Stefan's eyes had dropped to her left hand, still wrapped around Damon's arm, and his eyes widened, knowing of the ring.

Then had come the fast and furious questions, often thrown without regard if they had answered the last one. Finally, after standing there and allowing them to do that for a little bit, Damon growled at them to tell them enough.

"I had quickly found my normal ways of dealing with stuff left me bored as hell. So I took off towards Vegas, knowing it was one of those places I could lose myself for awhile. Instead, the very first night I was there, I met this wonderful woman, and the rest is now history."

Klaus is the one who put the clues together. "You were searching for…your _wife_?"

Damon's eyes flash, but he nods.

Bella is the one who explains to the group, hoping that they will allow this to end. "He stepped out of the room, and I ran away. As I ran away, I fell down the stairs and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in the morgue and bit a human. I had no idea of your type of vampire, and just thought I fucked up as I have been known to do. So I went away to get control as I was told that I needed to do as a newborn, shockingly, I found I had much better control, and I spent the time deciding what I wanted. Then I came to find him, using the address he had supplied on our Wedding License." Nothing more, nothing less.

Elena looks at the woman across from her, telling her, "If you don't want to be married, we can take care of it."

Damon's growl rings out, as he pulls her closer, that the people in the room had anticipated, but her own growl ringing out with his was not even thought of happening.

They had thought this woman needed saving from Damon, all of them having been used by him in some way in the past, and they can all attest to the fact that a lot of them did it willingly. So they were prepared for this to be the same situation.

Bella shakes her head, and announces, "If anyone tries to separate us, or annul our marriage, it won't matter. What you are doing is messing with pieces of paper. And what we have is going to last longer than the paper they are written on. I may have not known how long I agreed to, but I have no intent in not honoring my vows to my husband."

With that Damon pulls her around and puts his arms around her, his head on top of hers obviously showing that this is his, and he will protect her. But she is still facing the room, allowing her to fight and do what she needs to. He is supporting her.

Stefan had been quiet, but he gets up at that point. He walks over to them, and with a little bow, he introduces himself, "Stefan Salvatore, your brother-in-law. I am happy to meet you. And I am going to tell you this; I hope you have a lot of patience for him."

She smiles, and tells him, "Glad to have met you. Now, if you guys don't mind, Damon and I have a lot to still discuss, and he wished to be inside to do so."

Damon looks at them all, and bluntly tells them, "Newlyweds reuniting after a long separation. If you are still here, I don't want to hear a thing about it." And with that, Damon swings his bride in his arms and soon has her up the stairs and into their room, a huge bang signifying that they are wanting privacy.

Elijah just shakes his head and holds his hand out for Elena. She stares at him, and asks, "We are just going to leave?"

Klaus is up and pauses by the Doppelganger, "She heard your offer, and rejected it. If she ever needs it, she knows where to find you. Other than that, it is not my practice to get in between happy newlyweds. Not unless there is seriously something wrong. Now tell me, do you think Damon is going to hurt her?"

Shocked at his implication, Elena shakes her head, "No! But that poor girl!"

Elijah cocks his head and laughs, "Actually I think she can handle Damon quite well. Time to go Elena, before even you hear things that are supposed to be private."

With that they all leave.

* * *

Elena took a long time, as well as Bonnie to accept the changes in Damon. Watching him with Bella was a wake up call. She was jealous, that he had never let her see this side of him, but then she didn't want to see it either. She, as always, saw what she wanted to see.

But watching them around town, as they worked on getting Bella's name changed, started cleaning out the structure that used to be the plantation house and while they even argued in home stores on what they want, was something that finally got through her head that Bella is willing in this marriage, that she is just as much besotted with Damon, as he is with her.

Bella is slightly shy, but when she and Damon get to arguing, anyone can see she is a match for him. The argument that often comes about is that Damon wants their new home to be a home reflective of their tastes, and she cannot understand why he wouldn't want the old structure rebuilt.

Finally one day Stefan sits her down, and tells her in detail that shocked Damon as he stood out of sight, why the old home would be too painful to rebuild. "Damon is doing something huge, he is rebuilding it when he is the one who let it fall apart on purpose. But let him make it into a home reflecting both of your tastes. If you want to see a home that is the same as it was, ask him to take you to the Salvatore lands in Italy. Those he preserved everything. But do not ask him to do that to this house. Let him have joy in a place that brought him nothing but sadness and pain."

And that was that. Oh, not that they didn't fight about details, but now it was friendly bickering on colors, fabric and so on.

Damon also fulfilled his promise to take his wife on every surface of the boarding house, and often teases her that when they are in their home, he will do it all over again. He thinks a month will be sufficient time.

Stefan just shook his head, while Caroline laughs at them. There had been many heavy kissing sessions that Stefan and Caroline had been involved in, that they had entered the house, and immediately backing out, hearing the unmistakable sound of Damon making sure his wife knows how much he loves every part of her body.

Amazingly, they find that Bella loves everything Damon does for her. Damon often brings her flowers from the plantation if he visits there without her. He takes her for walks, and if they come back rumpled and with leaves or twigs in their hair, they are both laughing and glowing. And Stefan just grins as he goes back to whatever book he is reading at the time, or whatever else he and Caroline are engrossed in.

The two of them are like, and unlike any conventional couple. Bella has yet to drink from another human, and Stefan had heard a very interesting conversation, it seems that since Damon met up with her again, neither has he. It seems that him not drinking from a human was that, a rumor. But it had been done so rarely, Stefan had figured that had been the cause of the rumor.

However, when Bella started to feel unwell, Damon bundled her off, and when they came back, Bella was upset, and Damon was comforting her. Stefan heard a couple, "You didn't kill him, Angioletta. I promised you wouldn't and I kept that promise. It will get easier, but for some reason, we need to drink from humans." And a lot more promises of the same vein. It shocked Stefan to find out that Damon had ended up taking Bella to drink.

But there were other signs that the two of them loved each other very much. There were looks, touches and other unconscious things they did for each other, and watching the two in a kitchen was highly entertaining.

There had been repercussions on the intervention, and the main one is that Bella really didn't like Elena. She didn't care that Damon had been attracted to her, she brushed that off. But the suggestion that Bella was Damon's pet, _that_ had pissed her off to a higher degree than had been thought.

All in all, it was an interesting time while the house was built and the two learned to live with each other and with Caroline and Stefan at the same time. But none of them were more relieved than the other when the plantation home was finally finished.

* * *

Damon swings his love in his arms, carries her over the threshold, and looks down at her adoring the fact she is still here with him. The time that had passed had made him fall even more in love with her, and she him. He enjoys the times they talked after a bout of making love, or even wild sex.

They often did things, like showering and bathing together. In fact, there is not much they didn't do with each other, and when they did separate for any length of time, well Damon always brought her something back, little things like flowers from the gardens that he wished to surprise her with after he got what her favorites are.

The other things he did was bringing her books, or just little trinkets. He never flaunted his wealth, neither of them enjoying that, but he made no secret of how wealthy they are. He had sat down with her and showed her the financials. Seems the lands in Italy had come to him, since the brother had never married nor had any children. This was the plan beforehand, but Damon's father had not liked the lack of control he had over it.

But to take these lands, he had to also acknowledge that Damon would inherit it all. Otherwise, it would revert to his brother and heirs. That they were the same person, did not matter, all that mattered was that Giuseppe thought he had control, and he had sent Damon to be in the Confederate Army, hoping that he would die so that the favored son, Stefan, would inherit everything.

When that didn't happen, Damon was shocked to find they had a half brother that his father had cheated on his mother with. Nothing worked to bring them together, and his own father killing both the little brother he adored as well as himself was the final nail in that coffin.

Now, Damon and Stefan are settling into a close approximation of the relationship they had before. It helped that Stefan admits that he knew he was the favorite, and did nothing to help Damon out with Giuseppe. But the death of Damon and he made it obvious if you didn't have your brother, who did you have?

Bella had casually asked if there was a curse on their family, since it seems all the good intentions always seem to backfire with each other. The two brothers had looked at each other and thought about it.

Stefan fully welcoming Bella into the family was a huge step. He truly treated her like his older sister, glad to have Damon back and being more like the man he had admired and tried to be like when he was growing up.

The house had a definite nod to its heritage on the outside, but the inside was simple, but elegant. The two of them clashing on the details, had made a one of a kind home that felt like a true home that neither have ever had.

Damon took care of Bella, but he allowed her as much freedom as she ever wishes to have. The only part he did put a foot down was clothing. He took her shopping, and quickly showed her that it was a not a chore with him, and he was only wanting her to be comfortable. But he also loved to watch her try clothing on, so he will come. Turning each and every trip into a memorable one, made it a fast favorite way to travel, since they often would take a weekend to themselves and come back with bags of clothing and stuff for the house.

But now, the house is finished, and Damon had warned everyone to leave them alone. They were in their home, and he is going to do as he promised her earlier. He will make sure the entire house was christened. He even went so far to tell Bella, if something didn't work, they will replace it.

She was amused, but seeing the look on his face, as he set her down, cupping her face and kisses her in the manner that he loves to make her legs weak. As she closes her eyes in bliss, he moves down her throat, kissing the necklace he gave her at their one year mark, another lapis lazuli, but so small, no one ever sees it, instead they see the intricate works of the necklace.

He looks up at her, and taking in her face, he then shreds their clothes. They can always buy more. "For now, until otherwise stated, this is all we will be wearing"

****A/N: To read the rest of this story, since posting it would violate the guidelines here at fanfiction..., visit kittyinaz. com - copy and paste that into your browser, or click on the viable link in my profile.****

* * *

**Final count: 9,166 words.**

**Fairfarren~Wendy**


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